Soren

Chapter Twenty Three

Soren was spiralling. The lack of sleep and lack of things to do were sending her down a hole she wasn't sure she could pull herself out of. James was no better; the cabin was silent virtually all the time. Other than asking her if she was hungry, or helping her change her bandages, their communication was almost non-existent, until eventually it ceased all together.

The bond that had been so strong between them from the start had begun to crumble, leaving James and his wolf with an incomplete almost empty feeling where there had once been extreme joy. It took Matt coming over to check on the status of Soren and to ask for some help with some paper work, for things to start to turn around.

Matt was appalled at the sight of the house that had once been full of James' happy atmosphere. From the outside the little cabin looked uninhabited, no lights were on and no movement could be seen from within. When he knocked on the door there was no sound of shuffling feet or any movement at all. Knowing both James and Soren were home, he grabbed the handle of the house, surprised when the door opened with zero resistance, it had been unlocked.

Stepping into the house was like walking into a whole new home, only it wasn't a positive change. It smelt like mothballs, and when he walked in to the living room, the smell of whiskey assaulted his nose.

James was on the couch facing the fire, drink in hand. Matt swore under his breath, James wasn't big on drinking, he had never liked the feeling of not being in control of his senses, and yet here he was with a glass in hand. The bottle of the amber liquid sat on the table in front of him, and yet again Matt swore as he noted its almost empty state. That didn't bode well for the wellbeing of either of the members of the household.

Ignoring James for the moment, he took the stairs two at a time. In the bedroom sat Soren still in her chair, only she was by the window, and it didn't look like she had left the spot in a long time. Matt couldn't tell whether she was ignoring him, or if she genuinely didn't know he was in the room, it didn't take him long to figure out that the latter was probably the case. Standing next to her, he could see the way her eyes glazed over, staring at the sky but at the same time, staring at nothing.

Pulling out his phone Matt did the only thing he could think of, he called Margot,

"I need you to get over here as fast as you can, its worse than we thought." His mate swore, and Matt had to contain his amusement at the imaginative expletives that filtered their way through the phone. He knew she would come as soon as she could, she loved Soren like more than a friend, they were sisters in Margot's eyes, and that meant she would drop anything to help her. Matt could hear as his mate rushed around the house, demanding to know where he had put his car keys. Soon enough he could he the rumble of the truck as it started, and he hung up, relieved to know that his mate was on her way to help regulate the situation.

Descending the stairs, he hauled James to his feet, despite the low murmur of complaint that slurred through his lips. Pulling him out of the house Matt through him on the front lawn,

"Get up you piece of shit!" He yelled at the pile of limbs that was his best friend.

James didn't move. Pinching his nose between two fingers, Matt let out a long breath, he was Alpha of a large and busy pack, he didn't have time to be babysitting his best friend and beta. Yet he would, because Matt loved James like a brother, and when family needed help, there was no excuse not to be there for them.

Running inside, he resorted to drastic measures. Filling the pot with freezing cold water and throwing in a few ice cubes for good luck, he returned to James' depressing form and didn't hesitate to dump it on him. It did the trick, at the first touch of water to his curled-up body, James was sitting bolt upright, curses flying from his mouth.